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Dear Editor:
Will he dress for the part?
It was a luncheon some years ago given in honor of Ambassador Chokani, of the African nation Malawi. No foreign ambassador had ever come to visit Aspen schoolchildren before. Chokani was here to meet the hundreds of Aspen students who had become friends with Malawian children through letters.
This particular African ambassador is one of the most esteemed statesmen of his country. I felt truly honored that he came to meet the Aspen pen pals involved in our Abwenzi (Friends) program. But I was worried about bike shorts.
When I invited local dignitaries to help me welcome Ambassador Chokani to Aspen, Mick Ireland was one of the first elected officials to accept my invitation to the ambassador's Little Nell-hosted luncheon. But I had not specified any dress code. What if Mick shows up in bike shorts?
As it happened, Mick not only came appropriately attired, but he had thoroughly prepared by researching details about Malawi so that he could carry on a substantive conversation with the ambassador. It turned out that my fear of bike shorts was entirely unfounded.
My worries seem silly when I look back. I hope Aspen voters will let substance, not bike shorts, be the deciding factor in how you vote in Aspen's upcoming mayoral runoff.
Carlyle Kyzer
Basalt
Will he dress for the part?
It was a luncheon some years ago given in honor of Ambassador Chokani, of the African nation Malawi. No foreign ambassador had ever come to visit Aspen schoolchildren before. Chokani was here to meet the hundreds of Aspen students who had become friends with Malawian children through letters.
This particular African ambassador is one of the most esteemed statesmen of his country. I felt truly honored that he came to meet the Aspen pen pals involved in our Abwenzi (Friends) program. But I was worried about bike shorts.
When I invited local dignitaries to help me welcome Ambassador Chokani to Aspen, Mick Ireland was one of the first elected officials to accept my invitation to the ambassador's Little Nell-hosted luncheon. But I had not specified any dress code. What if Mick shows up in bike shorts?
As it happened, Mick not only came appropriately attired, but he had thoroughly prepared by researching details about Malawi so that he could carry on a substantive conversation with the ambassador. It turned out that my fear of bike shorts was entirely unfounded.
My worries seem silly when I look back. I hope Aspen voters will let substance, not bike shorts, be the deciding factor in how you vote in Aspen's upcoming mayoral runoff.
Carlyle Kyzer
Basalt
